Loading Photo Galleries ...

Written by

Donna Baxter

For the News-Leader

Si Robertson, left, is 'far more entertaining in person than he is on TV,' says nephew Alan Robertson, right. / Submitted photo

Want to go?

What: A&E’s “Duck Dynasty’s” Si and Alan Robertson appearing in Mountain Grove Also featuring: 12-year-old fiddler Brett Dudenhoeffer of Marshfield and the Baker Family bluegrass group of Winona Where: Earth Outdoor Building, 9871 East 20th St. When: 6 p.m. Aug. 10 Admission: $62.50 (includes dinner and a live auction); tickets available at Country Mart, 1901 West 19th St., Mountain Grove. A limited number of tickets will be sold. Information: Country Mart at 925-5144 or the Chamber of Commerce at 926-4135.

More

ADVERTISEMENT

Si and Alan Robertson of A&E’s “Duck Dynasty” will be guest stars at a concert Aug. 10 in Mountain Grove.

Also performing will be 12-year-old fiddler Brett Dudenhoeffer of Marshfield and the Baker Family bluegrass group of Winona.

The Chamber of Commerce event will begin at 6 p.m. in the Earth Outdoor Building. Director Mary Armstrong said the “Duck Dynasty” stars and local talent fit perfectly together for the show.

“Concerts are going big, so we thought we’d do something different. We’re selective with the kind of entertainment we have at the family event,” said Armstrong. “(‘Duck Dynasty’) media people told us they get up to 1,500 requests every day, so we’re very fortunate that they chose to come to Mountain Grove.”

A&E’s “Duck Dynasty” is a reality show about the Robertson family who became wealthy from their family-operated business called Duck Commander.

The Robertson men — brothers Phil and Si along with Phil’s sons Jase, Willie and Jep — are known for their long beards. Phil’s oldest son, Alan, is the only one with no facial hair. Other cast members include bearded friends and neighbors.

Their business began in a family shed where Phil spent 25 years making duck calls from Louisiana cedar trees. Willie is now company CEO. Family spokesman Alan Robertson was in the ministry for about 20 years but came back to work for Duck Commander about a year ago.

“We go everywhere and speak to all kinds of groups. It’s a lot of fun,” Alan said in a phone interview. “We are looking forward to coming to Missouri.”

He said people usually ask if Uncle Si is as crazy in real life as he is on the show.

“I say he’s far more entertaining in person than he is on TV.”

When asked what he would say to “Duck Dynasty” fans that he never gets a chance to say, Alan said they are all appreciative of people’s passion for the show and for their family.

“As much as we enjoy making people laugh and entertaining people, we also feel very led to talk about spiritual things that have mattered in our lives. We’re glad that people have given us the opportunity to do that,” he said. “The show’s success has surprised us, and we consider that to be a real blessing.”

(Page 2 of 4)

The family is working on a Christmas album titled “Duck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas,” scheduled for release Oct. 29. The fourth season of the show starts Aug. 14.

Alan spoke by phone to the News-Leader from Duck Commander in West Monroe, La., about the Robertson family and the show.

Q: In your wildest dreams would you ever have expected your business and the reality show to grow like they have?

Alan: We already had the business and some logo clothing. It’s probably grown tenfold since the show because it’s opened us up to a whole new group of customers. A lot of people who may never go hunting water fowl order T-shirts, duck calls and things like that. A&E owns the “Duck Dynasty” brand and sells a lot of merchandise as well. It’s a huge juggernaut right now in terms of not only the apparel but all sorts of stuff.

Q: How did the show develop?

Alan: We began making duck hunting videos about 30 years ago with just us boys, Dad and different ones around here who hunt with us.

About five years ago we were approached by Benelli shotguns, our sponsor at that time, to do a weekly hunting show for the Outdoor Channel. They also wanted (to add) interview bites about the rest of the family — sort of “behind the beards.”

It quickly became a success and got the attention of our present production company Gurney Productions. They wanted to do a show that was more about the family, how we got to where we are and the life we live.

They did a “sizzle reel,” which is about two minutes of highlights from two pilot episodes. Several networks bid on it, but A&E must have had the best deal. It started kind of slow but had a solid number, 1.1 million households the first episode — not huge but for cable a nice audience.

I think word of mouth kept it growing and by the third season (this year), numbers were the largest ever on the network and the second highest overall on cable. It even rivaled the network shows.

(The show) has evolved from videos to outdoor television to network television. We really never dreamed it would work because we’re just hunters at heart, not regular players for television.

(Page 3 of 4)

Q: What are some of the funny, unusual or unexpected happenings behind the scenes? Have the cameras changed your way of life, and is the show portraying you accurately?

Alan: There’s a lot of crazy moments. I’d say (about) 90 percent of these vignettes are things that have actually happened to us — recently, years ago and unfolding as we go. What you see on camera may not be exactly the way it happened, or it may have actually involved two other members of our family. Sometimes they’re changed just for the nature of telling the story.

Some of the things you see started with, “Wouldn’t it be funny if....”

I don’t know that one thing stands out, but I think it’s always interesting when the guys get together. Si, especially … you never know where he’s going to go. They may set up to film one way, and then he takes off in another direction, and everybody sort of follows along. I learned the first time I came on the show that you’ve pretty much got to roll with the flow.

Q: Why do you think “Duck Dynasty” has caught on like it has with the viewers?

Alan: A couple of reasons. It’s sort of a nostalgic show even though it’s set in our family… almost feels like a show from the ’60s that you could watch with the whole family.

The other part is it’s funny, which is always appreciated. Then it has that spiritual iconic moment at the end where we pray over our food. We hear from people all over the country that they appreciate the spiritual.

I believe (the show) has come along at the right time for America and also for the genre of shows like ours because most of them are very bad. The guys with the beards and all that is the hook, but the show is much more than that. It is totally different, which also makes it stand out.

During the first two episodes of the series they actually beeped a couple of times as if taking words out, but nobody had said a cuss word. They were so used to that genre that they thought it would be funnier if they did that, but it wasn’t funny to us.

(Page 4 of 4)

They heard from the fans they didn’t want that, and after they heard from us that we never said anything (bad), they never did it again. Having a beepless show is more popular than having a beep every five seconds.

Q: What was it like growing up with your brothers?

Alan: I’m the oldest, wisest, smartest, and if you ask my wife, the best lookin,’ but I think it’s because I don’t have a beard. (He laughs.)

We were very rambunctious, definitely typical boys, very hard on equipment, doors and beds. As the oldest I typically had to ride herd over them. Now I jokingly call myself the ‘beard wrangler.’ My brothers are not only involved here at the company and on the show but also with press all over the country. I still find myself kind of wrangling them, making sure they’re where they’re supposed to be and not destroying everything as they go.

We got many spankings growing up but don’t remember ever getting one that I didn’t deserve. I did get away with a lot of stuff. I still feel like I came out ahead, and I appreciate what Dad was trying to do, especially since I’ve raised two daughters myself now.

Q: How do you choose where to appear?

Alan: We can’t go everywhere, but we try to get somewhere every weekend. (Family members go to separate locations each weekend.) We have a full staff of people who work for our agency, and we just have them process requests. At least 200 requests come into our agency every day.